‘Mr. Stein has a constitutional right to access Ms. Cortez’s Twitter account as part of vigorous public comment and criticism,’ the lawsuit states.
Comedian Alex Stein has filed a lawsuit against congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accusing her of violating his First Amendment rights after she blocked him on Twitter.
Stein was blocked by AOC after a stunt on the U.S. Capitol steps in 2022 where he trolled the far left Squad member by criticizing her pro-abortion stance and calling her his “favorite big booty Latina.”
“She wants to kill babies but she’s still beautiful. You look very beautiful in that dress. You look very sexy. Look at that booty on AOC,” he said about Ocasio-Cortez, who posed briefly for a selfie. “Look how sexy she looks in that dress. Oooh, I love it AOC. Hot, hot, hot like a tamale,” he continued.
In the lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Washington DC Wednesday, the “Pimp on a Blimp” host reportedly cited “a federal appeals court decision that ruled against then-President Donald Trump, saying he violated the constitutional rights of several people by blocking them from following him on Twitter,” according to CNBC.
The suit alleges AOC blocked Stein “in retaliation to Mr. Stein’s exercise of his First Amendment rights, because earlier that day Mr. Stein, in the context of political commentary and sate, complimented Ms. Cortez.”
“Mr. Stein has a constitutional right to access Ms. Cortez’s Twitter account as part of vigorous public comment and criticism,” the suit states. “Ms. Cortez’s practice of blocking Twitter users she disagrees with is unconstitutional and this suit seeks to redress that wrong.”
CNBC adds that “Stein’s lawsuit cites a federal appeals court decision that ruled against then-President Donald Trump, saying he violated the constitutional rights of several people by blocking them from following him on Twitter.”
AOC was previously sued in 2019 for blocking Brooklyn assemblyman Dov Hikind, to whom she later had to issue an apology and unblock.
She subsequently released a statement affirming Hikind “has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them.”
Stein has said he’s not seeking a monetary reward, but is instead hopeful courts similarly side with his First Amendment rights.
“I really don’t have any hard feelings for AOC,” he said, adding, “I really would like to have her unblock me.”
He also said this would allow him to “communicate with her.”
Stein’s attorney Jonathan Gross said his client’s troll efforts were obviously political satire.
“My client is a political satirist,” Gross argued. “Political speech, the Supreme Court has said, is the highest level of protected speech.”
Meanwhile, Stein’s lawsuit is turning into fodder for meme makers.
Time will tell if AOC is legally forced to remove Stein from her block list.
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